Looking for some new ideas on how to carry camping gear on my 16. How & where do you secure your supplies?

For how many people? Just you?

If it were me, I would store all my stuff on the trawler that I would have accompanying me.

But the attached photo shows a Hobie 16 rigged for a very long journey, with camping gear and all supplies for survival (including paddlewheels they could pedal when they ran out of wind). I hope it is helpful.

Thats nuts

Those guys were peddling / drifting / sailing down the Ohio river to raise money for ALS. If I remember right, the one was over 70 years old and wasn't in perfect health to start with and things didn't improve along the way. I think they started in Pennsylvania, but I don't know where they ended up. I do know they were on the water for quite a few weeks.
Jack

Hey Mary!

This photo has really turned my wife around. Here she was thinking that a 58 yr. old guy could not sail a Hobie 16. Now we can all see a couple of geezers with ALS (sailing?) down Old Man River. What a great country!

THANKS for posting this picture!!!!

Richard,
Glad to be of help.

At the time of the trip, one guy was 80 years old and the other was 56. Ted, the 80-year-old, instigated the trip to raise money for ALS research, because his wife had recently died of the disease.

Unfortunately, this may not be of help to the person who really wants to know how to store camping supplies for a week on a Hobie 16. I am still looking forward to a realistic answer to that question.

If it were me, I would use the internet to research backpacking -- if hikers can carry everything in the pack on their back to survive for a week hiking in the wilderness, I figure it is actually easier if you take that big backpack and tie it to the deck of your boat just aft of the mast and let the boat carry it.

The key is to condense, consolidate, and center the weight, whether it is on your back or on your boat.

i bet if you could waterproof your pack, i say tie it to the bottom of tramp, so it wouldnt be in the way... just make sure to put a tether on it so if it does fall you dont lose it permanently... and is that a spinnaker pole they have that structure theyre sitting on built on???

If you want to read the entire story of their adventure, including how the boat was modified, you can find it at http://cureals.home.att.net/

Mike, My sail storage tube is made out of 8" PVC pipe, with a cap on one end and screw cap on the other. I am thinking of cutting the tube in half, with a screw cap on both ends, joined with a coupler in the middle, but not glued. That way, I could gain access to the sail tube from either end.

Then it could be pulled apart. Put a regular push-on cap on the open end of each half, with SS screws (again not glued), and strapped under the tramp, with the push-on cap end forward. These now, two tubes would be strapped under the tramp, right next to the hulls where they would interfere least with the hydralics going on under the boat, and especially in the center. It may even work better putting the tubes on the outside of the tramp, but still ontop of the hulls. Right below the side rails. An experienced cat sailor could probably let us know which would work best!

Once under way, the weight in the tube, would lift more out of the water as the hulls lift. You would want the weight balanced, side to side, and front to back, but because there is no central mass, the handling of the boat should remain balanced. They would also present minimal drag, and if you went all out, you could build a shaped cap out of fiberglass, that would be even more efficient, built right over the original PVC cap. That way it would still be a good fit for water tight.

Also the tubes being water tight, would add to the basic flotation of the boat, such that if you did capsize, they would not interfere with recovery. I have been concerned about gear on the tramp, being in the way, coming loose, and then being lost. If the tube did come loose, it may be good to leave a retrieval line tied to it, but it would be alot easier to see than a small bag floating around in the big ocean.

I think the gear could stay dry, You could get a lot of camping gear in the tubes, but use a push pole (like your hot stick), to push the gear in, and leave a retreival rope hanging back to the cap, so that you can pull the gear back out. I would still put it in dry bags, if for no other reason than organization.

Another thought that I had, is that you may have critter (raccoons) on the island, and you could leave your food or other gear, in the tubes to make it critter proof. Sort of like bear barrels in Alaska, though I understand that you do not have too many grizzlies in Florida. Raccoons can cause plenty of damage!

Overall, I would not have increased my normal gear load on the trailer, since I am getting double function out of the sail storage tube, and this way the tramp stays clear. You would also want your camping gear already in the small dry bags, so that all you have to do is stuff them in the storage tube once it is in place on the Cat. Once at your destination, the straps could be easily released, to remove the tubes for day sailing. TnT

I imagine you are right, but it does make me think that if I MUST carry stuff I might want to take our Subird, which is not so exciting but has a roomy cuddy.

I just have to get those paddle wheels......

Richard

From my experience it depends on what you mean by week long trip. Do you plan on going a short distance with a weeks worth of gear, or are you planning to cruise for a week stopping in different places. Are you sailing in the ocean or protected waters?

A way a buddy of mine did it with a 16 was to get some Dry bags for the stuff and he rigged a triangular net that he made out of something. It might of been one of those small packable hammocks that you can find at Wally World in the camping section. The net attached to the bottom of the bridle-forestay junction and the other ends were attached to the front cross bar corners. Nothing fancy. It was easily removed. The bags were placed close to the beam to keep as much of the weight as possible off the bows. Cooler strapped on the tramp close to the mast. Worked great.

I do a lot of boat camping but I don't have to go far. The furthest island we camp on is about 3 miles away.

Jack, I like your sig. PIC from B sound. When I was there I ran across several of these sharks while wading in the water. They look like Hammer heads but their just shovel heads....I think.

Four dry bags is what I am using. Two of each will be squeezed into the slot between the tramp and the hulls. The bags are tied back-to-back and their other ends are tied to the front and aft pylons, respectively. I also riveted a small eyelet to the lower side of the tramp's side rails for the middle rope to run through. This helps to avoid the bags hanging off the hull sides and dragging through the water.

Each bag has about 10 gals of volume, so I get about 40 gallons overall. Optionally, I tie another dry bag onto the tramp behind the mast. This is enough to carry a tent, cooking stuff, summer sleeping bags, air matresses, food for a few days, and clothes. Drinks and BBQ meat go through deck ports into hulls (at the aft end for better weight distribution). They'll stay cool there.

BTW, the tent will be set up on the tramp.

I like this solution because the tramp stays unclattered when sailing.

I also considered rigging a tramp net between the hulls but was advised against it. You'd increase the likelihood of pitchpoling when you put more weight towards the bows, and you will offer a large area of resistance in waves, which will slow you down (and may make you pitchpole, also).

You do have to make sure that the bags are absolutely waterproof

H77

We never saw any shark, but we did sail right over a Manatee once in the sound. I think Mary keeps one or two as pets near their new house.
Jack

The PIC.

There won't be any manatees near our house unless they grow legs.

Wow! Clear water, swamp water here in Louisiana dosen't look anything like that!

Clayton

Last night when we were returning to shore at sunset after our Wave races, Rick says his boat bumped up onto something big, and then a big circle of mud stirred up around him. Barb Short said a similar thing happened to her boat.
Probably one or more manatees, because this is the time of year they start arriving back in the Keys for the winter. It's lucky for them that they came into contact with Waves instead of powerboats.

Mary,

I would also add that it is lucky they are friendly creatures and don`t have a taste for fiberglass boats and passengers.

Though I have never had the pleasure to see one, I understand they can be massive.


Dave

P.S No luck on those ground anchors yet.